Manchester United Willing to Offer £240m to Barcelona Star; Twitterati React with Sarcasm

Manchester United are looking at signing Neymar for a five-year contract

August 25, 2015 15:28 IST

Manchester United are willing to spend an audicious £240m in a bid to acquire the services of Brazilian star forward Neymar from Barcelona, according to a British media report.

The Sun has also been reported that United are also willing to make the Barcelona star the global face of the club and are willing to offer him £300,000 a week.

A five-year contract worth £75m is also what the Manchester giants are looking at. While the interest for the player has been made clear by both the Red Devils and the player himself, it now remains to be seen whether the Old Trafford side take a step ahead in their pursuit for the Barca forward and launch the aforementioned bid.

Neymar's buyout clause at the Camp Nou amounts to £130m and United are expected to go a notch higher than just triggering his clause. Apart from the £130m buyout clause, Ed Woodward's side are expected to pay another £165m in the form of tax add-ons for acquiring the player.

Reports also emerged in the Brazilian press last night that United made an offer last week itself for Neymar, when Woodward was in Catalunya earlier this month to confirm talks about the deal for Pedro Rodriguez.

However, the reports have been refuted by Barcelona and it has been claimed that the Catalan giants have not received any offer from Manchester United for the Brazilian yet, according to Spanish daily El Mundo Deportivo.

Neymar has close to three years left on his contract at Camp Nou, and with just a few days to go for the transfer window to shut, it will be interesting to see whether Manchester United indeed launch the staggering fee for the player in the coming days.

Meanwhile, Barca president Josep Maria Bartomeu has stated that the Spanish giants are interested in having renewal talks with the player and are looking at a long-term affair with the player at the Camp Nou.

"Neymar feels great at Barca. "We'll have renewal talks later. We want him to stay for years and even to retire here," said Bartomeu.

Meanwhile, on Twitter, football fans have reacted with surprise, shock, and sarcasm to the news of United willing to make Neymar their most expensive player in history.